The Tribune

By DANA SMITH

Tribune Staff Reporter

dsmith@tribunemedia.net

CRIME, including murder, is on the decline across the country thanks in part to “significant work” being done by police officers, according to Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade.

He was speaking yesterday at Police Headquarters where he also defended the actions of police officers in shootings with armed culprits and also condemned the recent circumstances surround the dumping of a body – believed to be a past murder victim – in an open grave.

“Significant work is being done by police officers in New Providence, Grand Bahama, and certainly in the Family Islands and it’s simply because we are out on the front lines where things are happening,” Mr Greenslade said. “We’ve always contended that if officers are immersed in communities when things happen, the response is quick and there’s a good chance we can wrap things up quickly and that is what you see happening.”

Recognising the high crime levels at the beginning of the year, he explained that now, in recent times, officers have seen a decline in serious crimes.

“We had a very difficult period earlier on in the year and you see now a distinct change in terms of what is happening. I must also tell you what is significant, we have arrested a number of prolific offenders and those persons are still incarcerated. That is also the reason why things have been quiet – so a combination of things happening at the same time,” Mr Greenslade said.

“Serious crimes are not up. All of our numbers are down with the exception of armed robbery, which is up marginally, but all of the categories are down, including murders.”

Serious crimes such as rape and murder are down by six per cent overall and continuing to decline, he continued.

“If we continue to enjoy the support of the Bahamian people, and I have no reason to believe that we will not continue to enjoy the support of the Bahamian people, and our officers stay the course –  that is to stay on the front lines, stay connected with their communities and continue to follow the mandate that we’ve given them – you will see a better back end of the year in 2012.”

Mr Greenslade also spoke of shootings between police and armed suspects, explaining they are not as common as the public may believe and occur only if the suspect is armed and resisting.

The most recent shooting occurred last Thursday afternoon in the area of Key West Street and left one man in hospital after he fired shots at police. Neighbours at the time criticised police for taking part in a “gunfight” in the middle of a residential area.

“Very forthrightly if a member of the public in possession of an illegal gun, pulls that weapon, points it in the direction of a police officer or attempt take on the police officers you’re going to have a situation where the police will fire without hesitation,” Mr Greenslade said. “The Commissioner is not going to interfere with the discretion of police officer who feels that he or she feels under threat to respond as to law.”

He added: “I look at the amount of weapons we have taken off the streets to date – 318 and well over 5,000 rounds of ammunition and if you juxtapose the amount of police shootings against that, it’s insignificant. If you take the shootings in isolation you’ll perceive that you have a problem, but I don’t think so. I marvel at the amount of cases we have where officers confront armed assailants and no shots are fired.”

The commissioner also spoke of the circumstances surrounding the discovery of a fully clad body in an open grave in Southern Cemetery last week. According to police sources and family members the body was identified as that of Noel Roker, who was killed off Hospital Lane on April 2.

The discovery came after police received reports that two men were in the cemetery dumping a garbage bag.

However the owner of the funeral home responsible for the body said Mr Roker was buried two weeks ago on June 27, no family members were present at the burial. He denied that the funeral home had anything to do with the incident.

“I’m very concerned whenever I get a report like that,” the Commissioner said. “That is still a live investigation. I follow the letter of the law in respect to these matters and I’ve asked detectives to pay attention to it.

“While I don’t want to seem mean-spirited, in a country like ours, where we observe human rights and where we do things in decency and order, there’s no way that this commissioner is going to support any short-cuts. I’m telling you that in a very diplomatic way. If I find that someone is culpable and must answer to the law, charges will be brought. I’m not even going to sugar coat that for you.”